This project is no longer current

Great Lakes Hydrologic Data Base Development

Primary Investigator:

Co-Investigators

Midwestern Regional Climate Center

US Army Corps of Engineers (Detroit District)

Environment Canada

Hydrologic Engineering Center of the COE (Davis)

Overview

The goal of this project is to develop and provide new or improved historical
hydrometeorological databases for Great Lakes climatological, water resource
and water supply forecasting studies. This task also includes GLERL support
to the International Coordinating Committee on Great Lakes Basic Hydraulic
and Hydrologic Data and the US-Canada Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Ice
Information Working Group. This project produces the basic hydrologic
data used in all of the water resources and climate change projects at
GLERL. The data are also used in the international water quantity studies
supporting the International Joint Commission. User agencies include the
Corps of Engineers, EPA, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, various
states and provinces, consulting engineers and scientists, and interested
private and commercial interests.

2001 Accomplishments

St. Clair and Detroit Rivers Flow Coordination: GLERL has completed
their portion of the international coordination of the flows; a report
documenting the entire coordination process, along with all data used
is forthcoming but awaits completion by Canadian agencies.

Great Lakes Internationally Coordinated Routing Model: GLERL,
along with the US Army Corps of Engineers (Detroit District) and Environment
Canada, and with cooperation from the Hydrologic Engineering Center of
the COE (Davis), is developing a coordinated routing model encompassing
the entire Great Lakes basin for use in Great Lakes water resource studies
and lake level forecasting.

Coordinating Committee on Great Lakes Basic Hydraulic and Hydrologic
Data: Thomas E. Croley II is now serving as one of the two US members
of the board for the Coordinating Committee as well as the GLERL member
of the Hydrology Subcommittee. S. Keith Martin is serving as the GLERL
member of the Hydraulics Subcommittee.

US-Canada Ice Information Working Groups: Ray Assel continues
to co-chair the US-Canada Great Lakes Ice Information Working Group and
participate in the US-Canada Ice Information Working Group.

2000 Accomplishments

St. Clair and Detroit Rivers Flow Coordination: GLERL is participating,
along with the COE and Environment Canada, in the international flow coordination
of the Detroit and St. Clair river monthly flows for the period 1990-1999.
The flows will be published for use in Great Lakes water quantity and
water quality studies.

Data Acquisition: GLERL continued adding to their hydrometeorological
data bases through interagency data transfers, including data purchase
and annual subscription to the Midwest Climate Center services.

Great Lakes Internationally Coordinated Routing Model: A modular,
object-oriented, middle Great Lakes hydrologic routing model, developed
and coordinated between the US and Canada, has been linked with the Lake
Superior regulation plan and is now operational for the basin above Niagara
Falls. Work is in process for refining the model and incorporating the
Lake Ontario regulation plan. The model is currently being run operationally
for a number of Great Lake studies.

ESDIM Project to Digitize Great Lakes Water Level Data: Completed
Digitizing water level data (August 18th 2000)-- which we recovered hourly
water level data for the Master Gages around the Great Lakes. This involved
developing computer programs that were used in the digitizing and quality
controlling of over 6 million lines of data. This hourly data, which goes
back to the period of record (in some cases to 1860), was digitized from
deteriorating handwritten records. As of September 1,2000 this data was
given to NOS who will put it on the correct datum and make it available
to the public. Additionally, NOS is using the procedures developed at
GLERL to digitize the remaining 36 Great Lakes gages. Once the data is
on the correct datum, we can use it for looking at long-term storm activity
in the Great Lakes.

1999 Accomplishments

GLERL has been participating, along with the COE and Environment Canada,
in the international flow coordination of the Detroit and St.Clair River
monthly flows for the period 1990-1996. We are finishing up our work to
finalize our proposed flows for coordination. The international Coordination
will likely occur late this year or early next year. In addition Frank
Quinn is serving as one of two U.S. members of the Coordinating Committee
and Tom Croley and Cynthia Sellinger are participating as members of the
Hydrology Subcommittee and Hydraulics Subcommittee respectively. The ESDIM
data rescue project is proceeding on schedule. The objective of this two
year project is to develop a computer database of historic hourly, tri-daily,
and daily water level data from the 6 master water level gages, one for
each Great Lake and Lake St. Clair, and from the long term water level
gage at Buffalo on Lake Erie. The original water level data, consisting
of the original data reductions (hourly, tri-daily, and daily observations),
are contained in a large set of hand written notebooks for the individual
gauges going back to the early to mid 19th century. Data for the master
and recent gauges have been digitized from 1970 to the present time. We
have designed and developed the necessary database and QA/QC system for
processing and archiving the data. This includes error checking from the
hourly daily and monthly values. The digitizing and quality control have
been completed for the master gage at Harbor Beach with the data sent
to the NOS for datum corrections and inputting into the national water
levels data base. The process for the master gages at Marquette and Cleveland
are about 2/3 completed. The GLERL Great Lakes Monthly Hydrologic Database
has been updated through 1997. The data can be accessed from the GLERL
web site. Work is continuing on the assessment of secular changes in Great
Lakes Precipitation. The extremely high precipitation regime over the
last 30 years has found to result from major increases in summer and fall
precipitation. An additional pilot study , done under contract by Peter
Sousounis and Emily Grover at University of Michigan , documented the
increasing fall precipitation trend at both local and statewide levels
in Michigan. A 31% and 14% increase in precipitation totals was exhibited
respectively. There was an increase in the frequency of precipitation
days as well as in the length of precipitation events. An increase in
the frequency of extreme precipitation days was also observed.

1998 Accomplishments

A method to provide better estimates of area-weighted precipitation for
the late 19th and early 20th centuries was developed for Lake Superior.
Analysis methods and results are summarized in a Technical Memorandum
(Assel et al,1998). The ratio method provides better estimates of area
average precipitation for the late 19th and early 20th century which are
useful in climate and lake water balance studies. Coordinated Great
Lakes Regulation and Routing Model. A modular, object-oriented, middle
Great Lakes hydrologic routing model, MIDLAKES, was developed and coordinated
between the US and Canada, for use in bi-national Great Lakes studies
and operational regulation and forecasting. This model is part of a larger
project to develop a common American and Canadian Great Lakes regulation
and routing model for both operational and research purposes. The new
model is independent of datum, units, and form of stage-fall-discharge
relationships. Its versatility will be useful for operational regulation
and forecasting, evaluation of alternative lake regulation plans, simulation
of historical conditions, and assessment of impacts due to channel changes,
diversions, and climate change.

Products

Kryza, J., and F.H. Quinn. 1999. Large Lakes Groundwater Budget. Final
Report on the Bi-National Polish/U.S. Project on Comparative Groundwater
Mass Water Balance Study between a U.S. Great Lake (Michigan) and a Large
Lake in Poland. University of Wroclaw, Laboratory of Environmental Geology,
Wroclaw, Poland, 41 pp.